


Steal a Little, Steal a Lot

by IcyDeath



Series: The sort-of-dragon and his golden blond treasure [3]
Category: Percy Jackson & The Olympians (Movies), Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: BAMF!Nico, Hurt!Will, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nico as a sort-of-dragon, Slight Humor, slight sassiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 12:49:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20760638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyDeath/pseuds/IcyDeath
Summary: What happens when you steal a dragon's treasure?





	Steal a Little, Steal a Lot

**Author's Note:**

> What was supposed to be a short drabble not exceeding 1k words, somehow grew into a 2k monster. This was supposed to be a sweet fic but it kept turning this way and that and I have no idea what this is anymore, honestly. This entire series was supposed to be a fun, light-hearted writing exercise XD Oh well.  
ANOTHER NOTE: I may have been half asleep when I made half of this

Will wakes up surrounded by candles and realizes he's half-naked, "Aw," He slurs slightly, "This is romantic."

"I'm about to sacrifice you." Will looks to the side and sees someone who is definitely NOT his boyfriend staring at him. It was a centaur holding up a bloody knife. And now that the son of Apollo looks closer, he realizes there were strange symbols on the floor, painted on his chest, and he was currently tied to a stone pillar. He looks around and realizes he was being held in some sort of crumbling ancient building. Ruins, maybe.

"Oh," The blond tries to save face, "Uh, this is the most romantic sacrifice I've ever been to?"

"I kidnapped you."

Will squints and frowns, "That's sucks. Consent is important."

"I may have hit your head too hard," The villain concedes and well, at least he's being honest.

"You could've just asked me to go with you," Will scolds lightly. His head throbs and he has no control of what comes out of his mouth. "Then I could've rejected you before you went through all this trouble. Now we're here and all these candles and bondage ropes will go to waste because my answer is still 'no'."

"People don't normally have a choice when it comes to being sacrificed," The centaur walks toward him, licking the blood off the knife. "You can scream all you want but I won't stop."

Will, whose head hurts too much to give a proper response, just mutters the first thing he thinks of, "Kinky."

The villain of the day ignores him and tips his chin up with the end of his knife, "You won't be making jokes when I'm done with you."

"I doubt that." Will has officially lost control of his mouth. He is _so_ sore, _so_ annoyed, and _just so confused_ that he's forgotten to restrain all his inner sarcasm. If any of his friends could hear him now, they'd never let him live it down. This must be what it means to be a demigod. "I'll probably be making jokes into the afterlife. It's a demigod coping mechanism. When you're in danger, bleeding out, or close to death, the inner Percy Jackson comes out to play."

The centaur huffs at him and slices his shoulder. It's a shallow cut but he grunts anyway, flinching back.

"What? Nothing to say?"

"I thought vampires didn't exist." It was the best he could come up with. He sees now why Percy and other demigods often made jokes when things were serious. It's a defense mechanism, trying to put up a tough persona so that the enemy couldn't grab on to their fear and exploit it.

"I'm not going to drink your blood," Another stroke of the knife, by his neck this time, dangerously close to a vein, "But someone else will. You see, there've been rumors going around among the monsters lately. Apparently the blood of a child of Apollo can heal anything, did you hear?"

Will stiffens, he feels cold all of a sudden.

"I don't believe those rumors myself but the public wants blood from Apollo's spawns," He turns to take a cup and places it by Will's neck, "If your blood does manage to heal something then I'll keep you alive. If it doesn't, then… we'll talk about that when it happens."

The blond struggles against the ropes, ignoring the pounding of his head. He doesn't know if the rumors about Apollo's children having healing blood was true, even if it was or it wasn't, some monsters are bound to believe it and he isn't the only child of Apollo.

Whether his blood is some sort of miracle healing potion or not, his siblings were in danger. If his blood does heal, then they'll go after his siblings. If his blood doesn't heal, then they'll still go after his siblings to find someone whose blood does.

A slice to the chest and Will grunts. He closes his eyes and tries to think. His headache makes it hard to concentrate and his open wounds were beginning to sting. Direct attacks weren't his forte but he was at least trained in defense and the art of escaping. Still, he was drained, he didn't know what these symbols on him meant but they were probably draining and the bleeding wasn't helping his lightheadedness.

The centaur continues to bleed him and collect his blood in a cup like some old-fashioned vampire preying on vulnerable girls and boys. He whistles as he does so, like he's enjoying what he was doing. And Will would puke all over him if he could, because he's petty like that, but then- but then-

Oh.

There's an idea.

His hands were tied behind his back but if he times it at the right moment, then he could get out of here. He bows his face to hide his expression. The centaur leans to his side to slice at his arm and Will gives a high-pitched whistle.

The whistle attack isn't as strong with his hands tied, but since it is up close, it's more potent. The centaur curses in shock, dropping the knife. Will twists his tied hands to the side and leans the rest of his body in the opposite direction to catch the knife.

His captor falls back, temporarily stunned by the sharp whistle. The son of Apollo manages to grab on to the knife but it's sticky with his blood and it falls to the floor with a loud clatter.

Will curses under his breath and decides to go for plan B. He tries to wiggle out of his ropes instead, as fast as he can. Time is of the essence and the centaur was only stunned for a few minutes. His head aches and he actually feels sick with all the wriggling but he can't stop.

His captor shakes his head and tries to stand up. He sways but manages to glare at Will despite the ringing in his ears. He leans down to grab the knife and points it at the blond. He lets out a horse-like huff while Will continues to struggle.

"Tch, you actually tried to pull a fast one on me. You'll pay for that," The centaur says, "Maybe you'll think twice in escaping again if I cut off your tongue."

He grabs the blond by his face and forces his mouth open. Will grits his teeth and thinks, _Nico!_

A loud crash and a roar echoes around them. The centaur's knife falls for a second time. The ruins they were in shake and begin to crumble even more.

"What in Hades-" Shadows erupt from all darkened corners of the room. The centaur yells when his own shadow wraps itself around his hooves and drags him halfway into the darkness. "WHAT IS GOING ON?"

Will exclaims when the shadows gather around where he was trapped. They form a protective barrier around him, keeping him safe from falling debris. The stones continue to crumble and his captor is struggling not to be buried by his own shadow, yelling all the while.

Despite all the noise, the sound of loud, echoing footsteps could be heard above it all. Will tries to peek through the shadow barrier. His heart is beating a mile a minute, because all this darkness, these shadows, and that scent of death _could only mean one thing_.

The centaur freezes when a shoe presses down on his shoulder. He looks up and sees a boy with messy dark hair and olive skin looking down at him. The teen's dark brown eyes were narrowed into slits and they look like they were glowing in the dark of his own making.

"_You stole from me."_

The voice sends shivers down the creature's spine and he lets out a small, terrified sound. "You're-"

"_You stole what is mine," _The powerful, dark demigod continues and any words the centaur had, dissolves in his mouth. _"Hasn't anyone ever told you NOT to steal from a dragon?"_

The centaur pales and Nico bares his teeth and kicks him right into the puddle of darkness. A terrified scream echoes throughout the ruins and the shadow puddle shrink into itself until there is nothing left.

Silence.

"Whoa," Comes a voice from behind Nico. Will twists and sees that his boyfriend did not come alone.

"I don't think you needed us after all," Annabeth observes with a raised eyebrow. She reaches out a hand to close Percy's mouth. Lou Ellen does the same to Cecil's mouth.

Will's eyes burn at the sight of his friends and he croaks out, "G-Guys…"

This snaps Cecil out of his stupor and he runs towards Will with worry, "Will! Man, are you o-"

Annabeth grabs the son of Hermes out of the way just as a tendril of shadow comes out to push him back.

Percy transforms his pen into a sword in retaliation, "Nico?"

Nico, whose eyes were still narrowed, walks in front of Will and turns to face them. He growls lowly and the shadows around them go on alert.

"Uh-oh," Lou Ellen whispers, "Dragon instincts are at play. I'm afraid we're not allowed near Will right now."

"What?" Cecil exclaims, "But he's bleeding! He needs help! Hey, di Angelo! Get a hold of yourself! Your boyfriend needs medical attention!"

Nico does not budge, Will sees his hands clench to fists at his sides. He doesn't want another fight, not after everything that happened, and he wants all of them to go home without anyone else getting injured. Will takes a deep breath and says, "Guys, I'm fine! No need to worry. These are all just shallow cuts."

Nico straightens at the sound of Will's voice, the shadows become sharper. Percy frowns and looks to Annabeth for help.

The daughter of Athena observes the two carefully, "We have to leave them."

Everyone stares at her.

"WHAT?"

"It's the safest choice. Nico won't let anyone come near Will and as long as we're here, he won't let his guard down." Annabeth explains patiently, "I've read all about dragons. When you steal from a dragon, they go berserk. So we need to give Nico some time to control his protective instincts. We're his friends and he trusts us, so he'll let us go without a fuss, but he's too keyed up right now to allow us near Will."

"So… we just leave?" Percy asks uncertainly.

"We'll camp out and wait until he's calmed down." Annabeth corrects.

"But Will-"

"-is a trained medic, Cecil." Lou Ellen sighs, "He can heal himself. He's better at it than any of us anyway." Cecil frowns but does not argue her good point.

Annabeth takes out a rolled map and a bag containing nectar, ambrosia, and unicorn's draught. She steps forward but stops when Nico starts growling. Percy's shoulders are tense but Annabeth remains cool-faced. She puts down the gathered objects and steps back.

"There's a cave near here, you can rest there with Will until you calm down," Annabeth explains, "We'll stay out of sight but we'll keep an eye out for you, you have our word."

The daughter of Athena turns to leave. Percy finally relaxes and his sword turns back into a pen. He salutes Nico and Will before he follows his girlfriend out. Lou Ellen and Cecil hesitate.

"We'll see you later, Will." Lou Ellen assures the blond who gives her a wan smile. She pulls at Cecil's arm.

Cecil frowns harder before he sighs, "You better protect him, Di Angelo." Their two friends finally leave them alone.

Nico remains tense for a few minutes, ears perked before he eventually relaxes. He turns towards Will and with a flick of his wrist the shadow barrier dissipates. Some of the shadows stick to the ropes tying Will to the pillar and it envelopes the ropes until there is nothing left.

The blond falls forward but Nico catches him in a cool embrace.

"Nico," Will sighs. He knows he's taller than the son of Hades but he can't help but slump against him tiredly. Nico lifts a finger and traces the still bleeding cuts on the blond. He growls under his breath. Will huffs and buries his face on the other's shoulders.

"I'll heal. Let's just get the things Annabeth left us and go rest? Please?" Will pleads quietly. Nico runs a hand through his hair and he sighs in content.

"Yeah," Nico pulls back and looks him in the eyes. Will blinks at Nico's sharp gaze, surprised by the intensity there. "Whatever you want."

Then Nico leans forward and _bites_ his lower lip.

"Ow!" Will pulls back, bewildered, "What was _that_ for?"

Nico opens his mouth slightly to reveal slightly sharp teeth. Will's heart skips a beat at the sight. The ghost king shrugs, "Dragon instincts."

Will blinks at him in astonishment for a moment before he snorts and dissolves into quiet laughter. He buries his face on Nico's shoulder again, trying to muffle his slightly hysterical laughing. Somehow, Nico managed to ease some of the heaviness he was feeling just by being himself.

"Will?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Will finds the strength to straighten and smile at the other. "Let's go and get some rest, okay?"

Nico nods at him, grabbing his hand as they walk out of the ruins. Will leans against his side and trusts the other not to let him fall. He's safe… as long as he has Nico with him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading all the way! I'm in tumblr and twitter @emrysblu, come by and say hello!  
**Title is from this quote:** _Steal a little and they'll put you in jail, steal a lot and they'll make you king._ Bob Dylan


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